American Photography

These past few weeks in class we watched American Photography: A Century of Images. The three films were very enlightening to the fact that photos are about life and death. Also, I learned that photos showed the flux in life that happens over time. Most people used the camera to record their lives as the years went on and they changed. This was a kind of visual history of how their lives are with family and friends. Then one day the photos found there way in to the main stream media. The first magazine to put photos in there issue was Life. They wanted to put them in the magazine to education the public on what life really looks like with real people. Honestly, that to me was a genius idea on there part.
I think having images in papers, books, magazine, and other printed works really helps to get the point across to those of us who may find reading just a bunch of text hard. It gives me the sense that I can really relate to what is happening in the text. Also, it gives everyone a better understanding of the issue at hand. I really liked the films we watched in class. I learned a lot I did not know about the history of photography. It actually makes me want to start doing more stuff with photography.
By Sarah Richards